


The Good Doctor - An Unanticipated Visit

by Soquilii9



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 03:07:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13538373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soquilii9/pseuds/Soquilii9
Summary: Dr. Glassman may have overstepped his position again.





	The Good Doctor - An Unanticipated Visit

 

The young doctor hesitantly entered the hospital president’s office and closed the door softly.  Uncertain, he waited.

‘Hello, Shaun,’ said Dr. Aaron Glassman in his usual, soft-voiced manner.  ‘Come on in.  Sit down.’

‘Is.  Is...is there something wrong?’ Shaun asked anxiously.  His eyes were focused on the window blinds behind Dr. Glassman’s desk.

‘No, no, not at all.  I-‘

Shaun, thinking he’d been summoned about another matter, spoke defensively.  ‘I pulled the drain on the impaled leg.  According to all indications it was time.’

‘That’s good, Shaun.  I’m sure-‘

Clasping his hands together, Shaun leaned forward in his struggle to defend his actions.  ‘There-re-re-re, there was a massive infection.  A massive infection.  The E.R. doctor in her hometown failed to x-ray and left a portion of fence imbedded in her leg.  He didn’t x-ray it.  If he had x-rayed he would have seen it.  It was in there for  _months._ ’

‘That was the barrel racer, was it not?’

‘Yes.  This was her  _third_  operation,’ Shaun stated indignantly.  ‘The  _third one_.  Dr. Melendez had to sacrifice some tissue and the peroneus longus muscle.  He put in a Penrose drain.  There's no more fluid.’

Dr. Glassman shook his head regretfully that a member of his profession, whoever that might have been, should exhibit such a lack of expertise and regard for a patient.  ‘I’m sure you did a fine job.  I didn’t call you on the carpet for that or  _any_  case, Shaun.  I wanted to see you about something else.  Go ahead.  Sit down.’

Shaun took a chair, sitting quiet and remote but fidgeting.

‘Don’t you want to hear what it’s about?’

‘Y-yes.’  As was his wont, Shaun confirmed the approbation with nervous gestures of his hands, folding and unfolding them.

‘I just thought it best to prepare you before I –‘  Glassman walked around his desk and perched on the corner, looking down at the young man he’d fostered from the age of fourteen.  ‘Someone took a video of you treating that boy at the airport, the day you first arrived here in San Jose, remember?  Did you know that?’

‘Dr. Brown – and Lea – they both told me about it.  I saw it.  There were... a lot of hits.’  Shaun seemed proud of that fact.

‘Yes, there were many hits, and it was shown on YouTube virtually all over the world.  A lot of people saw it, including a lot of people you used to know - in Casper.’

‘Maybe, maybe Colleen Myers and Ricky saw it.’  Shaun lifted his chin a little.   _If they did_ , he reasoned silently,  _and if they were here, maybe they wouldn’t laugh, or tease, or try to trick me..._

‘I don’t know, maybe.  But two other people did, and called me.  In fact, they’re here now.’

‘Who are...  _they_?’

‘I’ll just come out and say it, Shaun; it’s your parents.  They wanted to see you after all this time, so I invited them.  They’ve come a long way and –‘

Shaun sat stunned, processing this new information.  Unbidden, memories from his past came flooding back:

_His father, yelling._

_How hard can it be to just act like a normal human being?!_

_His mother, pleading._

_He doesn't know how._

_His father, unyielding._

_Bull!  What are we supposed to do now?  Huh?_

_This is the third school he's been thrown out of!_

_His mother, hopeful._

_We'll find another school._

_His father, adamant._

_No we won't, 'cause nothing's gonna change!  They can't handle him_

_and I don't blame ‘em, ‘cause obviously, we can't handle him, either._

_His father, turning his anger from his wife to his son._

_What the hell happened this time?  What happened?!_

_His mother, supplicating._

_You're hurting him!_

_His father, attacking._

_What did you do?!  Shaun!  No!  Will you stop petting that stupid rabbit?!_

 

And later, after losing the one person he knew he could trust... his younger brother, Steve... the night Steve died... the officer, trying to get him out of the car; the sight of his father in the headlights; gesturing through the rainy windshield; dismissing his very existence; clearly reluctant to take his defective son back home...

 

_Shaun, we got to go!  You're home.  Your dad and mom have had a tough night_ __with your brother and all.  Come on, let's go._ _

  
_No!  No!  He... He promised me!  He... He promised me!  He promised!  H_ _e promised me! **He promised me!  He promised me!**_

 

‘ _They-y-y_  don’t want to see me,’ Shaun replied, shaking his head adamantly.  Tears stung his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

‘Of course they do,’ Dr. Glassman replied softly.  ‘They’re still your parents.  Don’t you remember your mother coming to your graduation?’

Shaun stared off into nothing, hands fidgeting.

 

_She was there, all right.  Standing off to the side, all by herself.  Dad wasn’t there.  She watched  me take my bachelor’s degree.  Dr. Glassman made excuses for her when she didn’t stay._

 

Glassman was smiling at him, offering encouragement.  ‘Shall we go?’

‘Where,’ Shaun said, anxiously.

‘The conference room was clear for half an hour.  They’re waiting to see you.’

Glassman was leading the way out of his office.  He turned to see Shaun rising to his feet, ruffling his own hair.  He’d seen him do it a hundred times and still had no clue as to what the gesture meant.

‘Coming?’

Shaun awkwardly nodded and followed his mentor out of the office and down the hall.  Obedient but reluctant.  Obliging but unwilling.

 

**~~~**

 

Shaun’s mother was on her feet, handbag clasped nervously in front of her.  His father was slouching languidly in one of the office chairs, indifferently gazing alternately at the ceiling, out the window, at the tastefully framed prints on the walls.  When his eyes finally lit on Shaun there was no welcoming light in them. 

Glassman noticed all these things in the seconds it took for him to usher Shaun into the room.  This meeting could go two ways, he realized; Shaun could gain comfort from it; closure perhaps; or he could quite possibly have a meltdown.  Dr. Glassman hoped for the first option.  He also wondered if he'd made a mistake.  Shaun was literally at his elbow; not a good sign because as a rule he avoided standing in close proximity to anyone.

His mother spoke first.  Timidly.  Hesitant.  ‘Hello, son.’

‘M-mother.  You’re... you’re looking well.’

Dr. Glassman glanced at Shaun.  His eyes were on the carpet.  Gripped in his hand was a bit of blue fabric wrapped around some small object; again, one of Shaun's many habits he had frequently observed.

‘Dad,’ Shaun said simply.

‘I brought your mother to see you.’

_Not even a hello_ , observed Glassman silently.  _After more than twelve years, no handshake; no attempt at any sort of greeting.  I didn't exactly expect the man to embrace his own son, but..._

‘I’ve missed you, Shaun.  Here,’ said his mother brightly, ‘we’ve brought you something.’  She dug in her bag and brought out a thick book, unwrapped.

Shaun took the book into his hands and riffled through it.

‘It’s a biology textbook I found in a second-hand shop.  You used to have this same book; you never put it down, remember?  Do you like it?’

‘That’s nice, isn’t it, Shaun?’ said Glassman.  He smiled politely at the mother and father.  ‘Of course, Shaun’s rather past that now.  I put your son through medical school; he’s an MD.  In fact, he’s resident in surgery here; I got him the job.’

‘What do you want, a medal?’

The father’s sarcastic comment was not lost on Dr. Glassman.  Taken aback he said, ‘Perhaps I should allow you to have this visit with your parents, Shaun.’

‘No.  I... w-w-want you to stay.’

‘I just thought you might like to have something you used to enjoy,’ said the mother.

‘Steve and I used to look up the big words in the dictionary –‘

The father spoke up.  ‘So you’re a  _doctor_ , now, huh?  Well, Steve would have done even  _better_.  But he  _couldn't_ , could he, Shaun?  He didn’t get the chance.  Because you got him  _killed_.’

‘Dave, _please_.  You know that’s not true.  That’s not what hap-’

‘This visit was  _your_  idea, Janet!  Yours and Glassman’s there.  I’m gonna go to the cafeteria for some coffee.  Let me know when you’re ready to go home.’  He slammed the conference door behind him.  He could be heard muttering in the hallway about what a waste of money the trip had been.

The mother looked sadly at the closed door.  She glanced up at her son and placed her hand tentatively on his arm, afraid to embrace him any more than that.  She couldn’t be sure of his reaction.  He was much taller than she remembered and there was a mature quality in him she hadn’t seen before.  He was a doctor.  He was a  _surgeon_!  The total sum of what he must have gone through to achieve so much hit her hard, but she dared not show any emotion.  She knew he wouldn’t react normally to it.

‘I’m very proud of you, son.’

Shaun, remote and disconnected from his emotions, merely nodded at his mother.  She took her hand away and looked at Dr. Glassman.

‘Thank you,’ she said simply, ‘for inviting us.  And for all you've done for my boy.’

Dr. Glassman opened the door for her.  ‘Thanks for coming,’ he said. 

He turned to face Shaun.

‘That actually went better than I anticipated.  I would like to know one thing, however...’

Shaun stood waiting, fidgeting, looking at the ceiling, trying mightily to process more feelings than he'd experienced in many years.

‘Shaun, why didn’t you defend yourself to your father?  None of that ancient history was your fault.  Steve’s death was an accident.’

‘I...‘ Shaun shook his head, ‘I ...don’t want to stand up to him.’

‘You stood up to  _me_.  You didn’t want therapy.  You didn’t want a home aide.  You’ve shown _plenty_ of spunk as far as I’m concerned.  Why couldn’t you exhibit that behavior with your father?’

Shaun’s eyes were suddenly brimming with tears.  He seemed locked in, unable to get the words out.

‘Why, Shaun?’

‘I... don’t like being hit.  You never...  Steve tried to help and got thrown across the room.  Mother was afraid.’

Dr. Glassman made a tentative gesture as if to embrace his protégé in sympathy, but the door to the conference room burst open, breaking the moment between them.

Dr. Melendez spoke sternly.  ‘Murphy, I’ve looked for you everywhere.  The drain on that infected leg - I thought I told you to advance it the last quarter inch, not pull it.’

‘It was time to remove it,’ Shaun replied with conviction.  ‘The amount of drainage over the last twenty-four hours was very minimal.’

'Did you note that?  Are you sure?'

'Yes,' Shaun said, firmly.

‘All right.  Fine.’  Melendez backed off, sensitive to the intangible but thick atmosphere in the room.  He glanced both at Shaun and Glassman quizzically.  He started to say something but thought the better of it.  ‘Keep an eye on it, Murphy; make sure we don't have to reinsert that Penrose,’ he said, not waiting for a reply.  He closed the door.

Shaun turned back to Dr. Glassman, who was surprised to note a new light of confidence in his protégé’s eyes.  He even seemed to stand a little taller.

‘Dr. Glassman.’

‘Yes, Shaun?’

‘I... I am not afraid to stand up to you.  I... _don’t want_ to see them.  Don’t invite them _anymore_.’  Shaun stared directly into Glassman's eyes; he meant it.

‘As you wish, Dr. Murphy,’ Dr. Glassman said respectfully.  He'd taken it upon himself to mend that which could not be mended and had failed.  Glassman sighed and glanced at his watch.  ‘Time for you to round.’

‘Yes.’

Shaun abruptly left the room.  From the vantage point of the second story walkway, he spotted his parents heading to the front door.  He didn’t watch them leave.  With a purposeful stride, he continued down the corridor to his patients.  They mattered.  And it was time for rounds.

 

THE END

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Despite research, I was unable to learn the names of Shaun's parents.  
> For this story I named them David and Janet.


End file.
